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Leonard Bernstein celebrated Dmitri Shostakovich’s sixtieth birthday by proclaiming him “an authentic genius” – “and there aren’t too many of those around anymore.” That took courage in 1966, when Shostakovich – the leading Soviet musician -- remained a Cold War cartoon of the stooge and simpleton. As Bernstein appreciated earlier than others, Shostakovich’s ultimate genius was … [Read more...] about Shostakovich: His Times Has Come (Alas)

From 2010 until its sudden termination by DOGE last April, I directed Music Unwound, an NEH-funded national consortium of orchestras and universities.  A letter from Michael McDonald, the acting NEH chairman, informed me that the demise of Music Unwound represented “an urgent priority for the administration.” It was ended “to safeguard the interests of the federal … [Read more...] about How AI Terminated 1,477 NEH Grants: A Naive Exercise in Casuistry

Having written a book – The Propaganda of Freedom – exploring the relationship between JFK and the arts, and having finished in manuscript a subsequent study of Leonard Bernstein and cultural leadership, I find myself responding to the Trump-Kennedy Center and kindred developments by looking backward at what might have been. Trump uses his bully pulpit to go after nations, … [Read more...] about Trump and the Arts — Take Three

An early review of my forthcoming novel "The Disciple: A Wagnerian Tale from the Gilded Age," by Hans Rudolf Vaget, appears in the current issue of "Wagner Notes" -- the journal of the Wagner Society of New York (pp. 11-12). The book is already available for purchase (with a discount) here. Vaget writes in part: For several decades, Joseph Horowitz has been our foremost … [Read more...] about An Early Review of My New Wagner Novel